Voters reject Southern Marin sewage district consolidation

A measure that would have consolidated four Southern Marin sewer districts into one larger agency went down the drain Tuesday, with voters in three of the four districts opposing it. Only one district opposed would have been enough to scuttle it.

"We would have liked a little bit higher turnout, but we definitely won," said Andrew Rusting of Tiburon, an opponent of Measure C on Tuesday's mail-in ballot. Turnout was about 38 percent of registered voters.

The Local Agency Formation Commission had urged the consolidation in response to a pair of January 2008 spills at the Mill Valley treatment plant that sent 3.4 million gallons of partially treated wastewater into Richardson Bay, resulting in $2.6 million in fines and fees.

State law authorized the commission to force the consolidation, but the directors and managers of the four districts — Alto, Amonte, Homestead Valley and Richardson Bay Sanitary — vociferously opposed the measure and gathered enough signatures to get it on the ballot in Tuesday's election.

They argued that consolidation would result in higher rates and cause disharmony among the former districts.

"Consolidation isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a good idea can be screwed up, and LAFCO managed to do that," Rusting said.

Richardson Bay Sanitary District led the "no" votes with almost 66 percent, followed by Homestead Valley with 55 percent and Almonte with 52 percent. The Alto Sanitary District split the vote with 50 percent for and 50 percent against the measure. Ballots picked up Tuesday at a drop-off box remain to be counted, but are unlikely to change the outcome.

The League of Women Voters of Marin County and the Marin Association of Realtors supported the consolidation.

"It does not make sense to operate a system with 20 elected directors and four managers to serve a population of less than 15,000," said Scott McKown of Mill Valley, co-chairman of the League of Women Voters Local Governance Committee, in his earlier argument for Measure C.

The defeat "was not unexpected," McKown said Tuesday night after the results were in. "From our point of view, in the long run, were on the side of the way it ought to be. What we're trying to get across to the public is that the real issue is the efficient and safe operation of the collection, treatment and discharge of sewage."

In the future, he said, "we need better turnout and more public education."